Daniel Naroditsky and a group of young Bay Area players who call themselves the "ChessPunks." Photo by Rob Wheeler

A pair of
U.S. national chess championships come to Northern California on the first
weekend of October.Participants may
compete for the U.S. G/60 title on Saturday, October 1, or the U.S. G/30 title
on Sunday, October 2.Of course, true
chess nuts seeking a wild weekend on the 64 squares can play in both
tournaments, for a total of nine games.Now
that sounds like fun!

Adult
players and juniors rated over 1000 compete in three divisions: Open, 1400-1799
and Under 1400.The projected prize fund
for G/60 on Saturday is $4000 (based on 117 full entries).For G/30 on Sunday, it is $3000 (based on
88).Kids rated below 1000 can enter a
simultaneous scholastic tournament with trophies offered in two divisions:
600-999 and Under 600.For full details,
please print out the flyers:

Be sure to bring
your digital clocks!The time control
will be G/60 d/5 and G/30 d/5, meaning no clock deduction for time delay.

Quite a few advance entries already arrived, with 69 players in G/60 and 38 in
G/30.Mail yours by Monday 9/26 or enter
online by Tuesday 9/27.Onsite
registration ends at 9:30 on both days, with the first round scheduled for
10:00.Save by entering both days: $20
for adults and juniors, $9 for the scholastic side event.

Watch out
for the Bay Area's crop of seasoned juniors.That 5th grader sitting across from you could be a master!Moreover, three nearby elementary schools won
national team titles in recent years: Mission San Jose dominated K-6 in 2009,
Weibel shared top honors for K-3 in 2010, and Regnart muscled its way to
victory in K-5 earlier this year.Beware
of the Chesspunks, standing at top of
this article together with coach IM Daniel Naroditsky (middle) after a training
session.

The
championships are held at the Santa Clara Hyatt Regency, across the street from the Great
America water park.The venue is
accessible by several freeways and by light rail to San Jose airport, BART and
Caltrain. Hotel guests enjoy a broad
view over Silicon Valley, from Mt. Hamilton in the east to Moffett Field in the
west.Call 1-800-233-1234 or click on this link to reserve your room for $99/night.

Thanks to
organizer Dr. Salman Azhar of BayAreaChess.com for bringing these tournaments to
Northern California.The directing staff
is familiar to local players: NTD John McCumiskey and a trio of senior TDs: Tom
Langland, Richard Koepcke plus Dr. Azhar.In recognition of the first nationals in Northern California since 1994
(excluding scholastics), new USCF President WIM Ruth Haring will deliver the
inauguration.

Future events: The US Class Championship also takes place over the first weekend of October. See details here. Later in the month, the U.S. National Junior
Congress will take place next door at the
Santa Clara Convention Center on October 29-30.Make your plans now.Trick or
treat!